Shuttle box construction



B. W. BROUWER SKU'ETLE no; cous'mpcuon Original Filed April 2, 1942Sept. 5, 1944.

INVENI'OR BENJAMIN W. BRouws-R Patented Sept. 5, 1944 SHUTTLE BOXCONSTRUCTION Benjamin W. Brouwer, Auburn, Mass., assignor to Crompton &Knowles Loom Works, Worcester, Mass, a corporation of MassachusettsOriginal application April 2, 1942, Serial No. 437,420, now Patent No.2,300,199, dated October 27, 1942. Divided and this applicationSeptember 4, 1942, Serial No. 457,248

Claims. (Cl. 139184) This is a division of my co-pending applicationSerial No. 437,420, filed April 2, 1942, now Patent No. 2,300,199.

This invention relates to improvements in shifting shuttle boxmechanisms for looms and it is the general object of the invention toprovide means for supporting the shifting shuttle boxes to arrestvibration thereof and give additional support to them at those times inthe cycle of the loom operations during which weft replenishment canoccur.

In filling mixing weft replenishing looms of a type which has recentlygone into use shifting shuttle boxes are located at each end of the loomto cooperate with a set of shuttles which follow each other in rotation.The shuttle boxes at the replenishing end of the loom are shifted by ayieldable actuator which operates on a four-pick cycle to hold the boxesdown for two successive picks and then up for the next pair of picks.Replenishment occurs when the shuttle boxes are raised and the lattershould be temporarily at rest with respect to the lay to insure completemovement of the incoming bobbin into the shuttle in the upper box. It isan important object of my present invention to provide means to givesupport to the shuttle boxes additional to that derived from theyieldable actuator to prevent their vibration with respect to the layand hold them temporarily at rest relatively to the lay so that shouldreplenishment occur the full bobbin can be moved completely into thedepleted shuttle by the transfer mechanism.

In my prior Patent No. 2,263,261 I have shown a bobbin chute connectedto the shuttle boxes and the box lifter rod in such a way that thelifting force forthe boxes is transmitted through the bobbin chute. Itis a further object of my present invention to provide the bobbin chutewith means to cooperate with the aforesaid support.

The bunter which actuates the transferrer latch is customarily mountedon the shifting shuttle box mechanism in looms of the type to which myinvention more particularly relates, being generally secured to thefloor of the top box. It is another object of my present invention toconnect the box carried bunter to the bobbin chut so that the latterwill support the bunter.

In looms of the type mentioned the lower shuttle box is always emptywith its binder in shuttle checking position during a replenishingoperation. Before the shuttle boxes start to descend subsequent to areplenishing operation a second shuttle enters the lower box to move thebinder outwardly, or forwardly as shown hereinafter. It is anotherobject of my present invention to provide a support for the bobbin chuteto be controlled by the binder of the lower shuttle box in such a waythat when the lower box is empty the support can move into cooperativerelation with respect to the bobbin chute, but when a shuttle enters thelower box the binder will move the support away from cooperatingrelationship with respect to the bobbin chute.

With these and other objects in view which will appear as thedescription proceeds, my invention resides in the combination andarrangement of parts hereinafter described and set forth.

. In the accompanying drawing, wherein a convenient embodiment of myinvention is set forth,

Fig. 1 is a front elevation of the shuttle boxes, actuating mechanismtherefor, and the support forming the subject matter of my presentinvention,

Fig. 2,is an enlargement of the shuttle boxes and support shown in Fig.1,

Fig. 3 is a vertical section on line 3-3 of Fig. 2, and

Fig. 4 is a perspective view of a portion of the shuttle boxes showingth transfer latch operating bunter, the bobbin chute and the support forthe latter.

Referring particularly to Fig. 1, I have shown a loom frame l0 and lay ll which swings back and forth on a rocker shaft l2. A rocker foot I3secured to shaft l2 has slidably mounted therein a sleeve [4 attached atits lower end to a connector l5 which extends upwardly over a sheave I6rotatably mounted on the lay. From sheave I6 the chain moves towell-known operating mechanism, such as a Knowles head not shown, whichpulls on and releases a chain [1 forming part of connector l5 to raiseand lower the sleeve. A box rod 20 extending through the sleeve M hasthe lower end thereof providedwith a collar 2| for engagement with thebottom of the sleeve. The rod extends upwardly from the sleeve and isattached as at 22 to a bobbin chute 23. A spring 24 surrounding the boxlifter rod is located between the top of sleeve l4 and the bobbin chute.When the connector [5 raises the sleeve M an upward force is transmittedthrough the spring 24 to the bobbin chute, and under ordinary conditionsthe spring is sufficiently strong to raise the boxes. If, however, ashuttle should fail to be completely boxed and should project into thepath of some part carried by the lay, the spring 24 will be compressedto prevent breakage of the shuttle as the sleeve rises.

the floor for the top box and the top for the bottom box. The lay end 38secured to the lay has inner and outer box guides 40 and 4| to guide thegang G as it moves vertically with respect to the lay.

The loom is provided with weft replenishing mechanism a portion of whichis indicated in Figs. 2 and 3. This mechanism comprises. a

frame 45 secured to the loom frame in front of the shuttle boxes andcarrying a stud 46 on which the transferrer arm 41 is pivoted. A do orlatch 48 is pivoted to the transferrer arm at 49 and is normally in downposition but can 'be raised by a connector 50 to transfer position whena replenishing operation of the loom is to occur. A reserve bobbin Bwill be under the transferrer arm at the time of transfer to be moveddownwardly into shuttle S in the upper shuttle box when the latter israised. At the time of replenishment the depleted bobbin from theshuttle S will move downwardly through the temporarily empty shuttle box3|- and between the right and left hand flanges 52 and 53, respectively,of the bobbin chute toward a bobbin can not shown.

The matter thus far described of itself forms no part of my presentinvention and may be made and operated as set forth in my previouslymentioned patent.

In carrying my present invention into effect I provide the lay end 33with a stand 60 bolted thereto and carrying a stud 6| on which ispivoted an upwardly projecting support lever 62. A spring 63 having oneend secured to the lever 62 and the other end held by a collar 64 on thestud tend to move the lever 62 rearwardly or in a right hand directionas viewed in Fig. 3. Lever 62 is provided with a supporting finger orarm 65 to extend under a lug 66 cast on and projecting from the left offlange 53 of the bobbin chute. The upper end of lever 62 is providedwith a head 10 having a rearwardly projecting nose 1| which overhangsfloor 35 of box 3| and is positioned for engagement with the binder 12of the lower shuttle box 3|. The head is provided with an upwardly andforwardly extending incline 13 positioned for engagement with the floor31 of the upper shuttle box. Lever 62 has a rear surface 14 below andforward of the nose for engagement with floor 31 when the boxes aredown.

Secured to the lug 66 is an upwardly extending rod 15 which extendsthrough the shelf or floor 31 and a wing of the bunter 18. Upper andlower nuts 19 and 86, respectively, secure the wing 16 to floor 31 andthe latter to rod 15. Rod 15 is threaded into lug 66, see Fig. 4, and anut 8| on therod under lug 66 cooperates with the latter to secure therod to the lug. The bunter has a right hand wing 82 for attachment as at83 to the floor 31. Between the wings is located the bunter properdesignated at 84 and provided with an operating edge 65 for cooperationwith the latch 48. The bunter is thus fastened to the floor 31 and risesand falls with the shuttle boxe and is the means by which force istransmitted from the lay to the, transferrer mechanism. The bunter willbe in high position when the boxes are raised during a transferringoperation of the loom and will be in low position when the shuttle boxeshave dropped to permit picking of the replenished shuttle S. While Ihave shown a rod 15 connected to the bunter mechanism I do not wishnecessarily to be limited to this particular construction, inasmuch asit is suificient for certain purposes of my invention if the rod 15 isconnected to the floor 31 of box 30.

In operation, the boxes will rise and fall as already described, risingwhen the lay is in the forward part of its stroke and being in fullyraised position on the next forward stroke of the lay. When the upwardshift is completed a shuttle in the lower box 3| is picked out to theopposite end of the loom and the binder 12 will move rearwardly to theshuttle checking position shown in Fig. 3. The lever 62 will thereforemove rearwardly with the binder under the action of spring 63 to movethe supporting finger 65 under the lug 66. Since lever 62 is pivoted toa part fixed with respect to the lay end, the bobbin chute willtemporarily be held against downward motion with respect to the lay bythe parts 65 and 66. This operation occurs regularly during loomoperation and if transfer should occur during the aforesaid secondforward beat of the lay the lever 62 will support the bobbin chute andthe latter, acting through rod 15, will support floor 31 to preventvibration or downward motion of the shuttle boxes. Durin the thirdforward beat of the lay, or the one occurring subsequent to transfer, ashuttle will enter the lower box to move the binder 12 forwardly, theeffect of which is to move the finger 65 forwardly from under lug 66.This operation occurs prior to the time in the loom cycle when theconnector I5 operates to effect lowering of the shuttle boxes, and thelatter are therefore free to descend without interference on the part ofthe lever 62. Should the forward part of the shelf 31 overhang the nose1| as the boxes descend it will engage the inclined surface 13 and givethe lever an additional forward motion. As the boxes move to theirlowest position the lever 62 will move rearwardly until surface 14engages floor 31. The lever will remain in this position, see dottedlines of Fig. 4, until the boxes start to rise, whereupon floor 31 willengage rearwardly and upwardly extending incline 81 connecting nose 1|with surface 14 and rock lever 62 forwardly. Further ascent of floor 31will permit hose 1| to move rearwardly toward binder 12.

From the foregoing it will be seen that I have provided simple means forproviding temporary support for the shifting shuttle boxes during thatpoint in the cycle of loom operations when transfer can occur. It willfurther be seen that the sup-port is controlled by the binder of thelower box and cooperates with the bottom chute which is directlyconnected to the lower shuttle box and is connected to the floor 31 byrod 15, hence when finger 65 is under lug 66 the entire box and chutestructure is temporarily held against downward motion with respect tothe lay. It will further be seen that the rod 15 assists in holding thebunter mechanism fixed to the floor 31 and that because of thisconstruction the bunter derives temporary support from lever 62 duringthe transferring operation and cannot move downwardly with respect tothe latch pivot 49. The specific relation between the lock member andthe bobbin chute disclosed herein is not claimed in this application butis the subject matter of the parent application Serial No. 437,420.

Having thus described my invention it will be seen that changes andmodifications may be made therein by those skilled 'in the art withoutdeparting from the spirit and scope of the invention and I do not wishto be limited to the details herein disclosed, but what I claim is:

1. In a shuttle box mechanism for a weft replenishing loom, a gang oftwo vertically arranged shuttle boxes, a floor for the upper shuttlebox, a bobbin chute secured to said gang and extending downwardlytherefrom, an actuator for the shuttle boxes connected to the bobbinchute, a transfer bunter, and means secured to the bobbin chute andextending upwardly therefrom to secure said bunterto said floor andsupport the latter from the bobbin chute.

2. In a shuttle box mechanism for a weft replenishing loom, a gang oftwo vertically arranged shuttle boxes, a floor for the upper shuttlebox, a bobbin chute secured to said gang and extending downwardly fromthe shuttle boxes, an actuator for the shuttle boxes connected to thebobbin chute, a bunter for said floor, and a rod having the lower endvthereof secured to the bobbin chute and having the upper end thereofsecured to said floor and to said bunter to support said floor andbunter from the bobbin chute.

3. In a shuttle box mechanism for a weft replenishing loom having atransferrer arm to push a reserve bobbin into a shuttle and expel aspent bobbin downwardly from the shuttle, upper and lower shuttle boxeswith a floor between them on which said shuttle rests, a bobbin chutesecured to and depending from said shuttle boxes to guide the expelledbobbin along a downward path, a flange on said bobbin chute to guide theexpelled bobbin, anda vertical brace outside of said path connectingsaid flange and floor at points adjacent to said path to support thefloor from. said chute.

4. In a shuttle box mechanism for a weft replenishing loom having topand bottom shuttle boxes separated by a floor and connected to adepending bobbin chute, the loom having a transferrer arm exerting adownward force to push a reserve'bobbin into a shuttle in thetop boxresting on said floor and expel a spent bobbin downwardly in a givenpath extending along said chute during a replenishing operation, aflange on said chute to guide the expelled bobbin, and a brace carriedby said flange and extending upwardly adjacent to said path andconnected to said floor to support the latter from said chute.

5. In a shuttle box mechanism for a weft replenishing loom having topand bottom shuttle boxes separated by a floor and connected to adepending bobbin chute, the loom having a transferrer arm exerting adownward force to push a reserve bobbin into a shuttle on said floor inthe top box and expel a depleted bobbin from said shuttle and cause oneend of the expelled bobbin to travel along a line extending along saidchute,

- a bobbin guide flange on said chute for said expelled bobbin, and abrace secured to and extending upwardly from said flange adjacent tosaid line and connected to said floor to support the latter from saidchute at a point near said line when the transferrer arm exerts saiddownward force.

BENJAMIN W. BROUWER.

